Tom Koh Trophy
The Tom Koh Trophy is a friendly international football tournament held annually from 298 to present between the national teams representing the four countries that emerged from the former Republic of Terramarc - Eastern Zartania, Whiland/Whitlam, Chungxiang/Westermarc, and Albion-Merité. The tournament was named after Tom Koh, the final president of Terramarc and ruler of the country as it dissolved into its constituent parts. While a hated figure among the peoples of the former Terramarc, Koh's name was chosen to grace the tournament and its trophy due to his role in uniting the four peoples against his rule and essentially pushing them to independence. Past Champions Style of Play The Tom Koh Trophy was played as a round-robin tournament with each team playing each other team in the tournament once. Points were awarded for wins and draws with the winner of the tournament being the team with the most points after playing the other three teams. Ties in the points standings were broken by head-to-head winner, then by goal differential, then number of goals scored during the tournament. The tournament was designed to be hosted by the previous year's champion. Tournament Logo The tournament logo was designed in Westermarc (now Chungxiang) and was deliberately reminiscent of the former Terramarc flag. A rectangular design at the center represented the Terramarc flag with its stylized, pointed cross, and a soccer ball at the junction of the cross' arms. Each quarter of the flag featured the two primary colors of one of the four nations of Terramarc: black and red in the first quarter for Eastern Zartania, gold and blue in the second quarter for Whitlam, dark blue and light blue in the third quarter for Westermarc, and dark green and crimson in the fourth quarter for the Albionish. 315AP Tournament Match Schedule 314AP Tournament Match Schedule 313AP Tournament Match Schedule 312AP Tournament Match Schedule 311AP Tournament Match Schedule 310AP Tournament Match Schedule 309AP Tournament The 309AP Tom Koh Trophy tournament returned to Whiland for the fifth time, and this time the Whiland Dragons didn't waste any time, smashing the Chungxiang Serpents 5-1 in the opening match of the tournament. The Eastern Zartania Monarchs, who have struggled in recent TKT tournaments, continued that streak in their opening match, drawing 0-0 against the Albion-Merité Imperial Eagles and leaving the Dragons in sole possession of first place. And the Monarchs continued to falter in their TKT endeavors, dropping their second match to the Dragons 3-0. With Eastern Zartania having failed to win a single game in the tournament, it all came down to the final match. Separated by two points in the standings, the Imperial Eagles were forced into a must-win situation in order to take the trophy, since a tie or loss would automatically give the Dragons their sixth title. In the end, the Imperial Eagles seemed to have everything going their way as the romped 3-0 over Whiland, giving Albion-Merité their second TKT title and returning the tournament to the dual empire for 310AP. Match Schedule 308AP Tournament For the 308AP Tom Koh Trophy, the tournament returned to Whiland for the fourth time. This time, the trophy was up for grabs from the beginning, with all four teams emerging from Day 1 in ties: 0-0 between the host Whiland Dragons and the neighboring Eastern Zartania Monarchs, and 2-2 between the Albion-Merité Imperial Eagles and the Chungxiang Serpents. On goals scored, the latter two were tied for the lead in the standings headed into Day 2 of competition. The Dragons returned to form on Day 2, blanking the Imperial Eagles 3-0 and taking the first real lead in the standings, albeit on goal differential. Coming down to the final day of play and the final game, the Monarchs were unable to overcome the Imperial Eagles' staunch defense, ending in another 0-0 tie, while the Dragons appeared unstoppable, rolling over the Serpents 4-0 and securing their fifth TKT title. Match Schedule 307AP Tournament The 307AP Tom Koh Trophy tournament was hosted for the first time in Albion-Merité and the first time in a territory that was NOT part of the old Republic of Terramarc. The Albion-Merité Imperial Eagles, however, blinked, falling to the Chungxiang Serpents 3-2 in their opening match of the tournament. Unfortunately for the Imperial Eagles, they were unable to get their feet under them at home, falling 4-2 to the Whiland Dragons in their second game and essentially eliminating themselves from contention and leaving the Dragons and Serpents in a dead heat for the lead in the standings. It came down to the final game between Whiland and Chungxiang for the title. In the end, the Dragons topped the Serpents in the final minutes of the game, claiming their fourth Tom Koh Trophy. Match Schedule 306AP Tournament The 306AP Tom Koh Trophy tournament was hosted by Eastern Zartania, with the games once again split between venues in Eastern Zartania and Western Zartania. This time, however, the tournament started differently, with the Chungxiang Serpents holding the Monarchs to a nil-nil tie, while the Albion-Merité Imperial Eagles opened with a dominating 4-2 victory over the Whiland Dragons. The Monarchs bounced back in the second game, holding on against the surging Imperial Eagles for a narrow 3-2 victory and taking the clear lead in the standings. Albion-Merité's final 4-2 win against Chungxiang put the pressure on Eastern Zartania, forcing the Monarchs into a must-win situation for their final game against Whiland. Unfortunately, it was a game that the Monarchs were unable to win, settling for a 2-2 tie and the TKT runner-up, giving Albion-Merité their first Tom Koh Trophy! Match Schedule 305AP Tournament Another home stint for the Eastern Zartania Monarchs and another Tom Koh Trophy win. Like the last time the Monarchs hosted, their games were played in Eastern Zartania while the other three games were played in neighboring Western Zartania, creating a neutral field for those games. For this tournament, though, there was no contest as the Monarchs dominated the competition, winning all three of their games by a combined score of 10-2. Match Schedule 304AP Tournament The 304AP Tom Koh Trophy tournament returned to Whiland for the third time, and the second year in a row, to see if the reigning TKT Champion Whiland Dragons could continue to hold at bay the reigning Vexillium Cup Albion-Merité 304 Champion Eastern Zartania Monarchs. It was another nail-biting tournament, with Whiland and Eastern Zartania running neck-and-neck in the standings through the first two days, separated by only a point in goal differential. While Albion-Merité and Chungxiang were never truly factors for the trophy, it was the Chungxiang Serpents that played the spoiler, defeating the Dragons in the closing game to give the Monarchs their fourth Tom Koh Trophy and returning the tournament to Zartania next year. Match Schedule 303AP Tournament The 303AP tournament returned to Whiland for the second time. And this time they made the most of the home field advantage, winning all three of their matches to easily sweep the tournament and win their second Tom Koh Trophy. Match Schedule 302AP Tournament The 302AP tournament returned to Eastern Zartania for the third time. This time, all of the Eastern Zartania Monarchs' matches were played in Eastern Zartania, while the other three matches of the tournament were played in neighboring Western Zartania, thereby creating neutral ground for the other teams to play on and leveling the competition between the Whitlam Dragons, Albion-Merité Imperial Eagles, and Chungxipang Serpents. The tournament itself was full of surprises, with host Eastern Zartania falling 4-0 to Whitlam in the opening match and failing to fully recover, while reigning Vexillium Cup Altland 302 champions Chungxipang were unable to win a match, apparently having partied too hard with the VexCup. In the end, it was Whitlam who dominated the tournament and won their second Tom Koh Trophy. Match Schedule 301AP Tournament The tournament came down to the final game in 301AP. Hosts Whitlam opened the tournament with an impressive pair of shut-outs, blanking Westermarc 5-0 in the opening game and then taking Albion-Merité 2-0 in the second game. Not to be outdone in the tournament that they have essentially owned since it was created, Eastern Zartania won both of their opening games as well, 2-0 against Albion-Merité to open the competition and following up with a 5-3 romp over Westermarc. With both the Imperial Eagles and the Serpents out of contention, the final match between Whitlam and Eastern Zartania had everything on the line, with Whitlam entering the match leading in the standings on goal differentials! But the Monarchs came to win, beating the Dragons 3-2 on a game-winning header from Erik Fouberg in the waning minutes of the match. Match Schedule 300AP Tournament The Whitlam Dragons defended their Vexillium Cup Whiland-Eastern Zartania 299 title by taking the Tom Koh Trophy away from Eastern Zartania for the first time in three years by just barely edging out the Westermarc Serpents in the points standings. The 300AP tournament saw the tragic effects of too many games in too short a period, as demonstrated by Eastern Zartania's fall from prominence. At the same time, however, fans were treated to the awesome spectacle of the tournament title coming down to the goal differential in the points standings! Whitlam and Westermarc left the tournament happy with their performances, and looking forward to the Vexillium Cup Nuropia 300. Eastern Zartania and Albion-Merité, however, returned home to ponder what went wrong, take action to correct it, and try to rest up before the all-important VexCup. Match Schedule 299AP Tournament The great tournament came down to the final match and ended with cordial handshakes by the teams, and an ecstatic crowd going wild as the present Royalty, HM Queen Sophia and HRH Crown Prince Raedvulf, did the honors of handing the Tom Koh Trophy 299 to Captain Faulkner and to their victorious Eastern Zartania Monarchs, with the Westermarcians looking on. Congratulations to Eastern Zartania, who continued their truly remarkable streak of wins, and defended both the TKT and their IVEFA Title! Match Schedule 298AP Tournament Match Schedule Category:Football Category:Zartania